Monday, September 15, 2008

(This is my new battle cry, invented by my publicist, Sarah. Do you find, as we do, that it is immensely satisfying when bellowed?)

Trying to lay low these days, not work too much, not get too crazy. I spent last week proofreading Graceling for the UK edition and doing a couple of interview things. This week I'm settling down with my Fire revisions -- which, I'm pleased to say, are not nearly as terrifying as I'd feared they would be. SNOOD, BE DAMNED.

Great news: I have a Brazilian deal for Graceling and Fire. Thank you to my new publisher, Editora Rocco!

I have been listening to the album Classic Yo-Yo, which I probably don't have to tell you is all Yo-Yo, all the time. Well, mostly Yo-Yo. He performs "Simple Gifts" with singer Alison Krauss, whose voice is impossibly sweet, delicate, and clear -- three adjectives chosen haphazardly because really there are no words. Want to come up with your own adjectives? Well, luckily, this fine fellow on youtube has created a montage of photos to accompany the piece, so you can listen to it here.

Here are two facts about Yo-Yo Ma:

1. He has beautiful and photogenic hands.

2. He was my college graduation speaker and, in the rain, lugged his cello onto the stage, played Mark O'Connor's "Appalachia Waltz" and the 1st movement of J.S. Bach's 1st cello suite, and made me the happiest gal alive. (How many people can say they'll never forget the speech at their college graduation?)

To round out this Post from the Department of Randutiae, here's my favorite recently spotted bumper sticker: "Jesus would use his turn signals."

One of my favorite Bumper stickers is "When life gives you lemons, chuck them at someone"

Also, I just got Graceling 2 days ago, and I wasn't even looking for it, My feet walked me to it on there own and I look up and I see it and I'm like this book has my name on it it must be good so I go and read the first 8 pages and I'm like I really like this.

Another favorite Bumper sticker I like it "I keep kidproofing my car but they still get in"

I'm just going to answer one of the questions this time. I'm afraid my favorite bumper sticker is: "Save a tree: eat a beaver." Sorry. It makes me laugh, every time. Runners-up are "God was my co-pilot, but we crashed in the mountains and I had to eat him" (even though it's sacreligious... it, too, makes me laugh) and "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."

Now I am going to stop reading your blog for the day, for I've commented quite enough for one day!

Quick Links

"Then, at last, sitting on her stretcher-bed, she took from the very bottom of her pack an old peacock-blue scarf folded around a heavy, square book. She unwrapped it and opened it very carefully, as if guilty secrets might fall from between its pages like pressed flowers. This was Harry's secret. She was a writer."

-from The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy

Writing is my secret. Every day I unwrap and open it as carefully as I can. Welcome to my blog about writing and life! Above you'll find quick links about me and my books, and below is more about me, ways to subscribe, and an archive of past posts. Click here to go home to my most recent posts.

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About the Author

Kristin Cashore wrote the New York Times bestsellers Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue, all of which have been named ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Her next book, Jane, Unlimited, comes out in September 2017. Graceling is the winner of the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature and Fire is the winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. The books are world travelers, currently scheduled to be published in thirty-four languages.

Finally, a note: This blog is my only online presence. I am not on Facebook, Google+, or any other social media sites, and I use Twitter solely as an amalgamation feed for my blog. Sorry, but I do not read @-replies on Twitter!